Hi everyone,
Last week’s development was very productive. I was able to rework the majority of the melee/ranged distinction I described last week, and I was able to get an upgrade of the gatherer’s hut done as well.
As I mentioned last week, I have been working on making the ranged and melee combat a little easier to predict for the player. Part of this was giving the soldiers and pirates a “lead time” before shooting. This is now done. A soldier who is firing at the player will first point their gun at the player, then take a few seconds to aim more finely, then shoot. The “fine aiming” does not yet have an animation associated with it, but I am currently thinking that it may be a good idea to have them kneel to take better aim - which will make it very clear for the player how close the soldier or pirate is to firing.
Additionally, I disabled the player’s ability to abort a soldier’s reload. Previously, it was possible for a move order given to a soldier to override their current reload. This meant that soldiers were more responsive to orders - and would reload just before firing the next time. However, with the better distinction between melee and ranged, ranged units will now reload directly after shooting, making them less responsive and more predictable. Considering their range and damage advantages, this will hopefully give players a good reason to use the more responsive melee units, which are going to have a distinct advantage if the player can get them close enough.
Finally, I have been slowly reworking some of our other older buildings to fit the new style we decided on. This week, I managed to finish the visual upgrade to the gatherers hut, as you can see in today’s image. The functionality has of course not changed - but I think the bamboo/wooden style fits a bit more neatly next to the banana leaves.
Until next week!